Method and apparatus of providing and customizing data input touch screen interface to multiple users

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus of interpreting a user&#39;s touch at a touch screen interface device is disclosed. One example may include instructing the user to draw a certain figure on the touch screen interface device, and detecting the user&#39;s touch on the touch screen interface device. Further operations may include identifying the user&#39;s touch as a plurality of coordinates within a predefined area designated as the user&#39;s interface device, and comparing touch strength pressure measurements of the user&#39;s touch coordinates with touch strength pressure measurement threshold values stored in a memory of a computing device. Additional operations may also include adjusting the touch strength pressure measurement threshold values based on the touch strength pressure measurements of the user&#39;s touch coordinates.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of prior filed U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 61/317,800, filed on Mar. 26, 2010, incorporatedherein by reference and relates to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.61/317,741, filed on Mar. 26, 2010 and U.S. application Ser. No.12/753,163 filed on Apr. 2, 2010 and U.S. Ser. No. 12/753,167 filed onApr. 2, 2010 and U.S. Ser. No. 12/753,171 filed on Apr. 2, 2010 and U.S.Ser. No. 12/753,180 filed on Apr. 2, 2010 and U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 61/317,744 filed on Mar. 26, 2010 and U.S.application Ser. No. 12/770,944 filed on Apr. 30, 2010 and U.S.application Ser. No. 12/770,965 filed on Apr. 30, 2010 and U.S. Ser. No.12/770,974 filed on Apr. 30, 2010 and U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/317,812 filed on Mar. 26, 2010 and U.S. Provisional Ser. No.61/317,827 filed on Mar. 26, 2010 and U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/317,793, filed on Mar. 26, 2010, each of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a method and apparatus of receiving data fromtouch sensitive interfaces of multiple users. In particular, the presentinvention includes a method and apparatus to configure user data inputinterfaces based on customized user options.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Touch sensitive screens are rapidly gaining popularity among users ofinteractive computing devices. Corporations, such as, Apple®, RIM®,Google® and Microsoft® have developed a large number of devices and/orapplications that rely heavily on touch sensitive user interfaces. Oneparticular area of increasing interest within the realm of touchsensitive user interfaces are multi-user (MU) touch detection and touchsensitive user interfaces.

In one example, a touch-screen may be a user display device that isconfigured to detect the presence and location of a user initiated touchgesture within the display area of the device. The ability to manipulateinformation by touching a screen provides an easy and intuitive way ofoperating a computing device. With recent reductions in the price ofsuch touch-screen devices, large touch-sensitive screens are expected tobecome increasingly popular in business, education, and for retailcustomers.

A new trend in touch sensitive display technology is to have largetabletop displays, which are viewable by multiple viewers. Examples ofthese large displays may include a “Collaboration Wall®” from PerceptivePixel®, and other devices associated with Microsoft's “SurfaceProject®”. The collaboration wall is a large (81″×48″) monitor developedby Perceptive Pixel, which was initially developed for militaryapplications. The collaboration wall has received most of its publicitybecause of its use by the CNN® news network during its coverage of the2008 U.S. Presidential election.

Such large displays provide new methods of data manipulation. Forexample, one or more users can move objects or other data illustrated onthe display screen and/or manipulate information on the display screenin an interactive and intuitive way that is viewable to others.

Researchers of such touch-screen devices continue to innovate new waysto improve the touch-screen operation experience for tabletop andrelated wall-mounted displays. However, there are numerous designchallenges and dilemmas that must be addressed in the creation of suchdisplays. These problems include but are not limited to, how to detectintended touch from unintended (accidental) touch, how to identifymultiple simultaneous touches by one or more users, how to improve theresponsiveness of the computing devices to the various touch inputsignals received, etc.

Another example operation of the multi-touch display is with the arts,which have portrayed potential uses of such multi-touch technology asbeing the future of multi-user communication tools. For example, the2002 science-fiction film “Minority Report©” provided differentmulti-touch features such as enlarging and moving objects around thedisplay area. Additionally, the television series “CSI: Miami©”introduced both surface and wall displays, similar to Microsoft'ssurface project, in its sixth television season. Another form of amulti-touch computer display was included in the motion picture “TheIsland©”, where the “professor” has a multi-touch desktop device that heuses to organize files, which was based on an early version ofMicrosoft's surface technology. Such technology can also be seen in thefilm “Quantum of Solace©.”

Wide availability of large touch sensitive screens makes it possible fortwo or more users to collaborate and work together using a single touchsensitive screen. With the increasing adoption of touch screens, and,more particularly, multi-user touch screens, an increase in theperformance and usability of detecting and interpreting inputs frommultiple users is necessary to keep up with the increased demand of suchdevices.

In addition, setting up and designating certain areas of a touch screenmay be necessary to accommodate the specific requirements of aparticular user. For example, a simple default shaped rectangle may beused to offer a user a workspace. However, users may require additionaloptions to change the shape and size of their respective workspace.Furthermore, the touch behavior of various users may be different foreach user. Therefore, it may be necessary to determine the specifictouch characteristics of a given user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Example embodiments of the present invention include a method, apparatusand computer readable storage medium configured to provide interactionbetween two or more users of an application via touch screen interfacedevices.

One example embodiment of the present invention may include a method ofinterpreting a user's touch at a touch screen interface device. Themethod may include instructing the user to draw a certain figure on thetouch screen interface device, detecting the user's touch on the touchscreen interface device, and identifying the user's touch as a pluralityof coordinates within a predefined area designated as the user'sinterface device. The method may also include comparing touch strengthpressure measurements of the user's touch coordinates with touchstrength pressure measurement threshold values stored in a memory of acomputing device, and adjusting the touch strength pressure measurementthreshold values based on the touch strength pressure measurements ofthe user's touch coordinates.

Another example embodiment may include an apparatus configured tointerpret a user's touch at a touch screen interface device. Theapparatus may include a processor configured to instruct the user todraw a certain figure on the touch screen interface device. Theapparatus may further be configured to detect the user's touch on thetouch screen interface device, identify the user's touch as a pluralityof coordinates within a predefined area designated as the user'sinterface device, and compare touch strength pressure measurements ofthe user's touch coordinates with touch strength pressure measurementthreshold values. The apparatus may further include a memory configuredto store the touch strength pressure measurement threshold values. Theprocessor may further be configured to adjust the touch strengthpressure measurement threshold values based on the touch strengthpressure measurements of the user's touch coordinates.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

While the appended claims set forth the features of the presentinvention with particularity, the invention, together with its objectsand advantages, may be best understood from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingsdescribed briefly below.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram, according to an example embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 1B is a touch screen configuration where multiple users haveconcurrent access to a touch sensitive interface, according to anexample embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1C illustrates a touch screen configuration where multiple usershave concurrent access to a touch sensitive interface via physicallyseparate devices and, therefore, form together a virtual large touchscreen configuration similar to the one illustrated in FIG. 1B,according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram illustrating the process of detectinga user's attempt to open a new window and/or modify the size of anexisting window, according to an example embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a message flow diagram illustrating the flow ofmessages between nodes and devices during a pre-configuration stage,according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates another message flow diagram of messages communicatedduring a training and threshold adjustment operation, according to anexample embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of a training process to learn theuser's manual input style and to adjust threshold values to determineintended touch commands, according to an example embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 is a network entity device that may embody computer program codethat when executed performs one or more methods of the exampleembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It will be readily understood that the components of the presentinvention, as generally described and illustrated in the figures herein,may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of differentconfigurations. Thus, the following detailed description of theembodiments of a method, apparatus, and computer program productembodied on a computer readable storage medium, as represented in theattached figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the invention asclaimed, but is merely representative of selected embodiments of theinvention.

The features, structures, or characteristics of the invention describedthroughout this specification may be combined in any suitable manner inone or more embodiments. For example, the usage of the phrases “exampleembodiments”, “some embodiments”, or other similar language, throughoutthis specification refers to the fact that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentmay be included in at least one embodiment of the present invention.Thus, appearances of the phrases “example embodiments”, “in someembodiments”, “in other embodiments”, or other similar language,throughout this specification do not necessarily all refer to the samegroup of embodiments, and the described features, structures, orcharacteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments.

While the invention is being described in the foregoing context, it isnot meant to be limiting as those skilled in the art will appreciatethat several of the acts and operations described hereinafter may alsobe implemented in hardware and/or software.

Example embodiments of the present invention describe methods andrelated apparatuses to provide effective interaction of two or moreusers via a touch-screen interface on the same or several computingdevices. Such example embodiments may include touch sensitive interfacesconfigured to be used by multiple users and corresponding computerapplications. Such configurations support multi-user touch detection onthe same touch sensitive screen, or, alternatively via a plurality ofscreens connected to a single touch-sensitive signal controller. Forexample, multiple touch sensitive screens can operate together to createone virtual large touch sensitive screen. Furthermore, the exampleembodiments of the present invention are not limited only to tabletoptouch sensitive screens.

FIG. 1A illustrates an example configuration of multiple users providingdata input via a common touch screen interface controller, according toan example embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1A,the touch screen configuration may be viewed as a multilayerconfiguration starting from a user interface 10-30 (level 0), andcontinuing with a touch screen interface controller 40 (level 1),auxiliary interface software, which includes interface managementsoftware 50 and interface command pre-screening software 60 (level 2),and also including application software 70 (level 3). Levels 0-2 providea user interface, controller and software interface that offers multipleusers with the ability to provide data input in a collaborative effort.

Some example embodiments of the present invention may provide aplurality of pre-existing and potentially new applications, such as,table games, art projects, landscape design, software architecturedesign, etc. These applications may be associated with touch-sensitivescreen interfaces that are used to offer multiple users the ability toplay and work together. In order to utilize touch sensitive interface(s)effectively, a configuration and method are needed to effectivelycoordinate data manipulation in a multi-user working environment, toallow quick addition of new applications, and to open multiple windowsby the participants of the game/project.

According to one example embodiment of the present invention, userinitiated touch commands may be detected as being displayed on thescreen of the user interface device without linking the detected touchcommands as actual commands. For example, consider a team of landscapearchitects as users working jointly on a single project. Eachparticipant may work at his or her own user interface screen displaydevice designing a particular image or set of images denoted as a“proposal.” Once that particular user has finished his or her proposalby inputting ideas via the touch-sensitive interface, the user mayselect a “finished” or “submit” option to allow the other team membersto view the proposal. At this point, the other members of the team willbe able to view the proposal, and may continue doing so throughout theadditional alterations of the design.

In another example, the submitted proposal may be canceled if there isno consensus among the participants of the project. For example, theparticipants may be prompted to vote out or accept portions of thesubmitted project being conducted by individual members. The moderatoror leader may have ultimate authority to agree or disagree with thegroup. Or, alternatively, the majority of votes among the users may bedecisive if the configuration is setup to include a democracy-typevoting scheme.

The project leader, or the actual user proposing a particular design maydecide to revert back to a previously saved design or abandon thecurrent design by performing a “roll it back” command. In order toaccomplish such a task, the configuration of the design layoutapplication must be capable of displaying the current design effortswithout actually committing to any proposed changes. Such aconfiguration may be implemented by a state machine diagram of thetouch-command detection controller's operation along with itscorresponding application.

Another example embodiment of the present invention may includesub-teams of a larger team working on a single project. The sub-teamsmay work in smaller groups on these smaller parts of the larger project.

In another example embodiment of the present invention, the history oftouch commands made by each user is retained and stored in memory. Whena particular sequence of commands becomes repetitive based on previousinstances of commands, the user may take advantage of prompts offered bythe application to reduce the amount of time used to recreate aparticular design scenario.

Example embodiments of the present invention provide one or more userswith a touch sensitive interface. Examples include, but are not limitedto the following touch sensitive technologies: resistive, surfaceacoustic wave, capacitive, projected capacitance, infrared, straingauge, optical imaging, dispersive signal technology, acoustic pulserecognition.

Currently, there is a large number of existing (e.g., table games) andpotential new applications, such as, a “collaboration wall” (e.g., artdesign projects, digital content creation, etc.) for whichtouch-sensitive screen interfaces are a natural choice. Exampleembodiments of the present invention provide interaction of two or moreusers via a touch-screen interface on the same and/or several computingdevices. Multiple touch sensitive screens can act as one virtual largetouch sensitive screen. Therefore, the example embodiments of thepresent invention are not limited only to tabletop touch sensitive (TS)screens.

In order to provide touch sensitive interfaces to multi-userapplications, there should be a configuration supporting multi-usertouch detection on the same touch sensitive screen or a host of screensconnected to a single touch-sensitive signal controller.

One example embodiment of the present invention may include multi-touchconfigurations that include a touch screen (e.g., screen, table, wall,etc.) and/or a touchpad, as well as a software application thatrecognizes multiple simultaneous touch points initiated by varioususers. Multiple touch points being performed in sequence,simultaneously, or, in a particular time frame may be recognized by thetouch device through a variety of different technologies not limited to:heat sensing, finger pressure, high capture rate cameras, infraredlight, optic capture, tuned electromagnetic induction, ultrasonicreceivers, transducer microphones, laser rangefinders, and shadowcapture.

A touch sensitive screen, also known simply as a “touch screen” may be adisplay configured to detect the presence and location of a touch withinthe display area. Even though touch screens can sense passive objects,such as a pen-shaped stylus, touch screens may also detect touch orcontact to the display device by a finger or hand. Touch screens enablea user to interact with what is displayed directly on the displayscreen, and, at a point on the touch screen where an object isdisplayed. Such displays can be attached to computers and/or asterminals communicatively coupled to other computers and networks. Touchscreens may also be used with digital appliances, such as, the personaldigital assistant (PDA), satellite navigation devices, mobile phones(Iphone®), and video games.

There are a number of common types of touch screen technologiesincluding resistive, surface acoustic wave, capacitive, projectedcapacitance, infrared, strain gauge, optical imaging, dispersive signaltechnology, and acoustic pulse recognition. Each of these technologieshas its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, in resistivetechnology, the touch screen panel may be composed of several layers,the most important of which are two thin, metallic, electricallyconductive layers separated by a narrow gap.

Resistive touch screens may be configured to support multi-touch.Surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology uses ultrasonic waves that passover the touch screen panel. When the panel is touched, a portion of thewave is absorbed. This change in the ultrasonic waves registers theposition of the touch event and sends this information to the controllerfor processing.

In the descriptions that follow, the example embodiments of the presentinvention are described with reference to acts and symbolicrepresentations of operations that are performed by one or morecomputing devices, unless indicated otherwise. Therefore, it will beunderstood that such acts and operations, which are at times referred toas being computer-executed, include the manipulation by a processor ofthe computing device of electrical signals representing data in astructured form, which may also be stored in a tangible storage memory.

FIG. 1B illustrates a large touch screen 110 that may be usedconcurrently by multiple users, according to an example embodiment ofthe present invention. Referring to FIG. 1B, an example of a computingenvironment 111 is illustrated with a large touch sensitive screencomputing device 110 being used concurrently by multiple users workingjointly on the same project at workstation computing devices 130, 140,150, 160 and 170 (i.e., computers, handheld computing devices, etc.).

In one example, multiple users may be working on a joint landscapedesign. Assuming a group leader has assigned each of the user's adifferent portion of the project (i.e., sub-projects), then the usersmay design their portion on their own respective workstations 130, 140,150, 160 and/or 170. The joint project screen 120 may be a larger screenthat is configured to display the entire efforts of all users duringproject efforts and after project completion.

While designing the landscape one user may be assigned a zone section ofthe project, such as, the stone walkway at the top center portion of thecustomer's backyard. Other users may design a non-location specificportion of the landscaping, such as, a playground, which the users maythen move around the layout illustrated on the main project screen 120until a final decision is rendered. This example design may instead be atable game, such as, Monopoly®, where all the users are seated around alarger screen and interface via their own computing devices 130-170.

The project screen's entire area may be touch sensitive and can be usedto pass commands through the touch detecting mechanism at the surface ofthe screen 110 to the controller portion of the screen 115. FIG. 1Billustrates a darker line 110 which represents the surface and toucharea of the screen and the controller circuitry 115 is illustrated bythe thinner line 115 and may be located below the surface of the touchscreen 110. Details of the touch screen's circuitry and controller 115have been omitted from further detail. The defined areas 120, 130, 140,150, 160 and 170 may be virtual screens that are part of the largerscreen 110.

Referring to FIG. 1B, shown schematically below the surface 110, thearea of the screen 120 may be divided into several viewing areas whichare based on the content of the user display screens 130, 140, 150, 160and 170 (in this example we assume that we have five users). The contentof the user display screens 130-170 may be recognized by the controller115 as touch sensitive input interface areas for each participant of theproject. Results of the joint work are reflected on the surface area ofthe joint screen 120, but may also be replicated by the application ineach of the individual input areas 130, 140, 150, 160, and 170. Thus,each user may be able to see a copy of the joint project in theirrespective input areas.

Applications that can utilize such a touch sensitive multi-userinterface include but are not limited to table games, landscape design,and software architecture design. Each participant can make changes tothe project through the visual and intuitive touch sensitive interfaces130-170 as if the whole team was working with real objects. Each users'input is passed from the controller 115 to the computing device 190through the communication link 180, which includes but is not limited toa wire-line connection, such as, Ethernet, a wireless connection(Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.), or any other connection supporting informationexchange between the controller 115 and computing devices 190, such asthe Internet.

Computing device 190 interprets signals detected and passed by thecontroller 115 as commands to move objects illustrated on the screen120. Once a signal detected by the controller 115 is received andinterpreted by the computing device 190, the objects may be moved orre-arranged according to the users' instructions reflected in theircorresponding input areas 120, 130, 140, 150, 160 and 170. The auxiliarycomputing device 185 may be used to configure the computing deviceremotely via a communication link 125.

Another example multi-user configuration utilized in embodiments of thepresent invention is presented in FIG. 1C. Referring to FIG. 1C, acomputing environment 1111 is illustrated as having a large virtualtouch sensitive screen 1120 whose content is based on the input formedby multiple devices with smaller sized touch sensitive screenscommunicatively coupled to the same controller 1115. Touch sensitiveinterfaces of devices 1130, 1140, 1150, 1160, 1170, provide an inputtouch screen so that the results of the joint work may be reflected onscreen 1120. All user devices 1130-1170 are connected through theirrespective controllers (not shown in the figure) to a common controller1115 (illustrated as a bus of a common computing device). The same maincomputing device 1190 can be pre-configured through the auxiliarycomputing device 1185 via communication link 1125.

It should be noted that in FIG. 1C, each of the separate user devices1130, 1140, 1150, 1160, 1170 can be a touch sensitive screen of anothertable-top, laptop, PDA, cell phone, etc., and the links connected eachdevice to the main computing device 1190 can be through the LAN networkor other known communication interfaces which include, but are notlimited to Bluetooth, infrared, Wi-Fi, etc. The users do not need to belocated around the same room or table but may be located on other sidesof the globe communicatively linked through the Internet. According toexample embodiments of the present invention, the configurationsillustrated in FIG. 1B and/or FIG. 1C permit collaboration of sub-teamsof users working jointly on the same project. The users may workindependently without interaction or together in active communicationwith one another to contribute to a larger project.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, each of theusers' own input areas may be dedicated areas providing a touchsensitive interface. These areas can be pre-configured and/or modifiedby the user and/or the group leader. For example, the size of the touchscreen area may be configured through the computing device 185, which iscommunicatively coupled via a link 125 with the main computing device190. The configuration commands may be processed by the main computingdevice, which, in turn, is configured to draw the boundaries and size ofeach of the users' touch sensitive interfaces 130-170 on the largertouch screen interface screen 110. The link 125 can be a wire-lineconnection, such as Ethernet, wireless connection, such as, Bluetooth,WiFi, 802.x etc., or any other connection supporting informationexchange between the computing devices of the controller 115 and maincomputing device 190, such as, for example, via the Internet.

In another example embodiment, the number of input areas or windows,their size, shape and location may be determined automatically based onthe number of users and the nature of the application. The rules used todefine the user input areas may be stored in the main computing device190. For example, some applications may allow each user to take up to50% of 1/N of the total surface area, where N is the number of users.Each user can change the size of the window, however, he or she will notbe able to extend the size of the window beyond a threshold valuedesignated by a predefined rule.

The location of the window may be determined by the type of applicationand the type of user. For example, assuming that two or more users areplaying a competitive card game where some of the information should notbe shared by the players, the system will automatically generate twowindows, or one window split into two parts for each user. One windowwill be used to allow the user to perform a selection and view a commonpicture seen by all players, the other window will be used for privateviewing privileges, such as, the individual player's cards that eachplayer does not what the other players to view.

While each of the players' windows may be located next to each other,the players of the card game would prefer to be seated as far apart aspossible, and therefore the system will automatically maximize thedistance between the players based on the location of their windows.Conversely, if the users are collaborating on a joint project design,and, especially, if they are part of a sub-team working on a smallerpart of a larger project, the computing device (i.e., main computingdevice 190) will configure their respective input areas close to eachother but far enough apart not to crowd the users to close to oneanother. In these examples, each user can further change the size,shape, and location of an input area as needed.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, each of theusers' touch sensitive interfaces may be limited to the area where theuser is located. For example, users may be sitting around a touchsensitive table, and it may not be necessary for a user to have accessto all areas of the table to manipulate data. The other area of thetable may be used by each participant to place their notes, pens, coffeemugs, and elbows on the table without interfering with the working spaceof the other users. In another example embodiment (not shown in thefigures), each user can have several user interfaces open for differentapplications.

It should be noted that individual users' touch sensitive interfaceareas 130-170 illustrated in FIG. 1B do not need to be fixed. Once theyare initialized each user can move their specific rectangle-shapedwindow around and can enlarge or reduce its size and area for ergonomicreasons. Each interface area is associated with a user (or users) and anapplication. A user can bring new windows around the main window of theapplication that he or she is working with at any given time. The usercan also perform multitasking and/or use the additional windows to aidhis or her main application. For example, the user can bring a set ofobjects that he may want to place in a separate window in an effort notto crowd the main application window area visible by all team members.However, if and when the user needs to add a new object into the mainwindow, he or she can simply drag and drop the object from an auxiliarywindow into the main window.

Each user can define the shape of the window(s) he or she is using. Therectangular-shaped windows 130-170 illustrated in FIG. 1B serve only asone example and are not intended to limit the possibility of otherwindow display configurations. For example, a user may find that atriangular-shaped window provides a more suitable arrangement to workwith the objects currently displayed in the window while saving somespace on the table-top.

A message flow chart illustrating an example embodiment of the presentinvention is illustrated in FIG. 2. In this example, each user'sconfiguration for the shape and size of a touch sensitive interface areais performed through the supporting computing device 185 and maincomputing device 190. The main computing device 190 storespre-configured threshold values in a temporary storage area. The maincomputing device 190 also converts received information into commandsrecognized by the controller 115 and passes them to the controller 115.Controller 115 further executes commands necessary to draw the usertouch sensitive interface in the designated area and outline therespective boundaries of the designated area.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram procedure that permits the user tomodify the shape of an existing window or to create a new window,according to an example embodiment of the present invention. Referringto FIG. 2, the system detects a user preference to execute asystem-level command to generate a new window at operation 201. A newwindow having a predefined shape (i.e., rectangle) and size, which maybe based on previously placed windows, is then placed near the otherwindows a particular user, or, in a default location at operation 202.The user is then prompted to associate the new window with a list ofavailable applications, or, alternatively no application at operation203.

Continuing with FIG. 2, it is then determined whether the user hasselected an option from the list at operation 204. If no option isselected the user is again prompted to associate the present window,and, if the user does perform a selection, the window's pre-existingcontent becomes the default application content at operation 205. Theuser's name is placed in the window, and the user is prompted to changethe size/shape/location etc. of the window or confirm that the presentconfiguration is acceptable at operation 206. The user may continuemodifying the windows features by moving the window around via touchingthe user display interface at operation 208. When the user is satisfied,the border of the window may be double tapped at operation 207. Thewindow is then fixed and filled with the pre-existing content inoperation 209. If the user is satisfied another double tapping operationmay be performed at operation 210, and the window's content may bestored in memory at operation 211.

In an effort to illustrate the communications between the variouscomputational devices, a message flow diagram is illustrated in FIG. 3,according to example embodiments of the present invention. Referring toFIG. 3, the supporting computer device 185 (as illustrated in FIGS. 1Band 1C) sends information necessary to configure each users' interfaceand the main window boundary or group window (similar to main window 120in FIGS. 1B and 1C). The information sent may also provide thresholddata as to the touch signal strength of the users. The information maybe sent to the main computing device 190, which communicates with thecontroller 115 of the touch screen interfaces by transferring thecoordinates for each window being configured.

The controller 115 may then transfer the surface coordinates necessaryto draw the boundary of the user's interface area to the touch sensitiveinterface window 130. The main computing device 190 may temporarilystore in memory the pre-configured threshold values for the users, andtransfer data to the controller 115 necessary to place the objects onthe surface of the touch sensitive interface window 130 (i.e.,application related objects, such as, menu options, profile data,project information, etc.). Additional objects may be placed on the mainwindow 120 assuming it is designated as a master project window toinclude the data of each of the individual windows 130-170.

FIG. 4 illustrates another message diagram that includes an examplecalibration and learning cycle of collecting data based on the user'stouch characteristics, according to an example embodiment of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 4, the main computing device 190 instructsthe touch sensitive interface window 130 to make specific movements,such as, draw a line, circle, triangle, etc., in order to begin thecalibration and learning process of the user's touch characteristics.

The controller 115 detects the user's touches and correspondingcoordinates and determines the pressure, speed, size and other relatedcharacteristics of the user's touching style, and, the controllerdiscards all touching that is outside the designated area of the userbased on the coordinate measurements of the user's predefined area.However, all touching inside the boundary of the user's touching area isforwarded to the main computing device 190, which compares the strengthmeasurement with the stored threshold values and makes adjustments asnecessary to accommodate the user's touching style.

Once the response to the initial command is received and interpreted,the main computing device 190 instructs the controller 115 to executethe command, such as, draw an object, move an object etc. The user'smovement behavior is not originally available to the computing device190 until the training cycle is complete. The commands executed by theuser may be executed on the main touch sensitive screen 120 and/or theinterface window of the user 130. The correspondence of the object drawnby the user and the object stored in the memory is based on acorrelation of the measured coordinates of the object drawn by the userto a set of predefined coordinates stored in the memory.

The evaluation procedure includes comparing the geometry and coordinatesof the actual measured points from the user's selections to thegeometric figure or curve that was expected from the instruction. Forexample, if the user was instructed to draw a line, it is expected thatthe coordinates of points where a pressure signal was detected andmeasured will form a line. If a line is not drawn and the measurementsdetected fail to be complied by the computing device as an acceptableline, the measurement may be disregarded and a repeat attempt may beoffered to the user. For example, the user may be informed of failedattempt(s) and asked to repeat the command.

For the received data points that passed the evaluation procedure, eachpoint's pressure strength value is compared with the correspondingthreshold values. According to an example embodiment of the presentinvention, for a given geometric figure/curve, the average pressurevalue of all the measured points forming the figure/curve may becalculated and used as a new threshold value. If the measured pressurevalue is below the pre-configured threshold value, the user may be askedto repeat the same command “N” times, where N is a configurableparameter that can be adjusted as needed. After N measurements have beenconducted, the computing device may store the lowest value of thepressure measurements as the corresponding threshold value.

Since various users working jointly on the same project may be applyingdifferent touching pressure while working with the touch sensitiveinterface, each of the users' input gestures must be interpreteddifferently. The touch detection interfaces are configured for each userindividually based on specific threshold value(s). Also, the touchdetection interfaces are trained to recognize input commands throughsuccessive input attempts during the training phase of the application.Alternatively, the input commands of the multiple-users may be measuredas a group, which are used to create specific threshold value(s).

In order to identify and authorize the individual users, each user canswipe his or her thumb, or any other predefined finger, over the top ofa display device that can read fingerprints. In other embodiments, anyother known form of biometric data can be used such as iris/eyerecognition, voice recognition, heart beat recognition, etc. Thefingerprint may be used to identify the user uniquely, and a biometricdevice can be communicatively coupled to any device in FIG. 1D tosupport fingerprint authorization. For example, the biometric device canbe attached to the main computer 190, an auxiliary device, or can bemade part of the table-top display device in one or more locations.

Once the user is identified, he or she can execute table-topsystem-level commands, such as, for example, “open a new window.” Such acommand request prompts a window to appear near the area designated forthat user. The window may also include the user's personal identifier,such as, the user's name, ID, device(s) IP address, email address, etc.The user's identifier illustrated in the window indicates that the usercan define at least one of the shape, the size, the color, the sound,the location, and any other attribute of that window.

Once the user is satisfied with the window's configuration, he or shecan provide a command to the controller and/or main computing device,such as, for example, double tapping the border. This action taken bythe user will cause the window to be fixed. If the user needs to changethe window size, shape, etc., again in the future, he or she willconduct this process again.

According to another example embodiment of the present invention, theuser may be recognized through his or her unique touch sequence. Forexample, when users are added to an existing project, the user may beasked to enter a unique tapping (or touching) sequence in a specifiedarea. For example, one user may choose three quick taps as a sequencethat uniquely identifies him. Another person may choose to draw an “L”shape, etc, as their trademark identifier that can be used toauthenticate them logging on to the system. When a user requestssystem-level access by performing an “open new window” command, the maincomputing device will prompt him to enter the unique touch sequenceprior to providing the user with a new window display. It should benoted that user recognition can be combined with a full or partialbiometric data reading configuration that combines one or more of theabove noted authorization examples.

In another example embodiment, the users may be permitted to selectsimilar touch sequences. For example, when the measurements cannot beused to uniquely identify the user entering a touch-type password, theuser will be prompted with a list of all users matching the enteredsequence, and the user can select his or her name from the list, orinstruct the system to show more users if his name is not in the list.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example flow chart illustrating the method ofcalibrating the user's drawing technique for a particular shape,according to an example embodiment of the present invention. Referringto FIG. 5, the user may login or setup his or her touch screen interfacedevice window and enter the training state at operation 501. The maincomputing device may send an instruction to the controller to execute acommand to draw a primitive geometric figure or shape (e.g., square,triangle, straight line, etc.) by a user (denoted “U”) at operation 502.

It is then determined whether the response was received within aspecified time period “T” at operation 503, and, if not, the time-out isrecorded, a reset is performed, and the counter is incrementedaccordingly at operation 504. If the number of consecutive timeouts hasexceeded a pre-specified number then the training process ends, and, ifnot the instruction is resent and the procedure is started over atoperation 505. Assuming at operation 504, the response was received withthe time period T, the measurement points outside of the designateduser's touch sensitive interface area are disregarded and the otherpoints are compared to data pre-stored in memory to determine theaccuracy of the user drawn shape at operation 506.

It is then determined whether the two shapes match (i.e., the user drawnshape and the shape stored in the memory) at operation 507. This type ofcalculation may be performed by simply comparing the coordinates of theuser drawn shape to the distance and related coordinates of thepre-stored shape. If the shapes match to a degree of precision that isacceptable by the computing device application, then the averagepressure strength of the user drawn shape is measured to determine avalue “V” denoting the average pressure applied by the user on his orher touch screen device at operation 510. If the shapes do not match,the failed attempt is recorded at operation 508 and the number ofconsecutive failed attempts is measured against a threshold value “Nta”to determine whether to repeat the user drawing process at operation502. If the number of failed attempts is beyond the threshold value“Nta”, then training state is ended.

Once the value “V” is measured as the average pressure applied by theuser on his or her touch screen device at operation 510, it isdetermined whether V is less than T at operation 511 and if so T is madeequal to V at operation 512, and if not it is determined whether thetraining for the shape has been repeated a threshold number of “Nr”times at operation 513. If the training has not been repeated “Nr”times, then the training procedure is repeated. If the training has beenrepeated Nr times, then the user is informed that the training iscomplete for the given shape at operation 514 and the training state iscompleted at operation 515.

It should be noted that the training procedure may be configured torecognize the drawing of many different types of geometric figures andshapes, and various other commands executed from the touch sensitiveuser interface. The user may perform various different functions outsideof his or her designated input area. For instance, while the user wasresponding to a command to draw a line, he or she could have touched thedisplay surface with an elbow, etc. The touch detection system iscapable of recognizing which touches correspond to a user's response toa given command, and which touches should be ignored.

The operations of a method or algorithm described in connection with theembodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in acomputer program executed by a processor, or in a combination of thetwo. A computer program may be embodied on a computer readable medium,such as a storage medium. For example, a computer program may reside inrandom access memory (“RAM”), flash memory, read-only memory (“ROM”),erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), registers, hard disk, aremovable disk, a compact disk read-only memory (“CD-ROM”), or any otherform of storage medium known in the art.

An exemplary storage medium may be coupled to the processor such thatthe processor may read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in anapplication specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”). In the alternative,the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components.For example FIG. 6 illustrates an example network element 600, which mayrepresent any of the above-described network components 130, 140, 150,160, 170, 185 and 190 and similar components in other drawings.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, a memory 610 and a processor 620 may bediscrete components of the network entity 600 that are used to executean application or set of operations. The application may be coded insoftware in a computer language understood by the processor 620, andstored in a computer readable medium, such as, the memory 610.Furthermore, a software module 630 may be another discrete entity thatis part of the network entity 600, and which contains softwareinstructions that may be executed by the processor 620. In addition tothe above noted components of the network entity 600, the network entity600 may also have a transmitter and receiver pair configured to receiveand transmit communication signals (not shown).

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed, it is to be understood that the embodiments described areillustrative only and the scope of the invention is to be defined solelyby the appended claims when considered with a full range of equivalentsand modifications (e.g., protocols, hardware devices, software platformsetc.) thereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of interpreting a user's touch at atouch screen interface device, the method comprising: displayinginstructions on the touch screen interface device instructing the userto draw a certain figure on the touch screen interface device; detectingthe user's touch on the touch screen interface device; identifying theuser's touch as a plurality of coordinates within a predefined areadesignated as the user's interface device; comparing touch strengthpressure measurements of the plurality of coordinates with at least onetouch strength pressure measurement threshold value stored in a memoryof a computing device, wherein the touch strength pressure measurementscomprise a plurality of pressure strength values corresponding to eachof the plurality of coordinates; determining the plurality ofcoordinates match a predefined shape comprising a set of predefinedcoordinates stored in the memory to a predefined degree of precision asdetermined by a computing application by identifying locations of eachof the plurality of coordinates on the touch screen interface device andmeasuring a distance of each of the plurality of coordinates tocorresponding coordinates of the predefined shape; when the plurality ofcoordinates match the predefined shape to a predefined degree ofprecision, determining an average touch strength pressure measurementbased on each of the plurality of coordinates forming the figure,wherein the average touch strength pressure measurement is determined bycalculating an average of the plurality of pressure strength values; anddesignating the average touch strength pressure measurement as a newtouch strength pressure measurement threshold value.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the figure is at least one of a square, circle,rectangle and a straight line.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: discarding ones of the plurality of coordinates that are notwithin the predefined area designated as the user's interface area. 4.The method of claim 1, further comprising: instructing the user toredraw the certain figure on the touch screen interface device if theuser's figure does not correspond with the figure stored in memory. 5.The method of claim 4, wherein the correspondence of the figure drawn bythe user and the figure stored in the memory is based on a correlationof the measured coordinates of the figure drawn by the user to the setof predefined coordinates stored in the memory.
 6. The method of claim1, wherein the predefined area designated as the user's interface deviceis a portion of a larger display device area and may be customized toincrease or decrease the portion of the larger display device area thatis currently being occupied by the user's interface device.
 7. Anapparatus configured to interpret a user's touch at a touch screeninterface device, the apparatus comprising: a processor configured todisplay instructions on the touch screen interface device to instructthe user to draw a certain figure on the touch screen interface device,detect the user's touch on the touch screen interface device, identifythe user's touch as a plurality of coordinates within a predefined areadesignated as the user's interface device, compare touch strengthpressure measurements of the plurality of coordinates with at least onetouch strength pressure measurement threshold value, wherein the touchstrength pressure measurements comprise a plurality of pressure strengthvalues corresponding to each of the plurality of coordinates, determinethe plurality of coordinates match a predefined shape comprising a setof predefined coordinates to a predefined degree of precision asdetermined by a computing application by identifying locations of eachof the plurality of coordinates on the touch screen interface device andmeasuring a distance of each of the plurality of coordinates tocorresponding coordinates of the predefined shape, when the plurality ofcoordinates match the predefined shape to a predefined degree ofprecision, determine an average touch strength pressure measurementbased on each of the plurality of coordinates forming the figure,wherein the average touch strength pressure measurement is determined bycalculating an average of the plurality of pressure strength values; anda memory configured to store the touch strength pressure measurementthreshold values and the set of predefined coordinates, and wherein theprocessor is further configured to designate the average touch strengthpressure measurement as a new touch strength pressure measurementthreshold value.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the figure is atleast one of a square, circle, rectangle and a straight line.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured todiscard ones of the plurality of coordinates that are not within thepredefined area designated as the user's interface area.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured toinstruct the user to redraw the certain figure on the touch screeninterface device if the user's figure does not correspond with thefigure stored in the memory.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein thecorrespondence of the figure drawn by the user and the figure stored inthe memory is based on a correlation of the measured coordinates of thefigure drawn by the user to the set of predefined coordinates stored inthe memory.
 12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the predefined areadesignated as the user's interface device is a portion of a largerdisplay device area and may be customized to increase or decrease theportion of the larger display device area that is currently beingoccupied by the user's interface device.
 13. A non-transitory computerreadable storage medium configured to store a computer program that whenexecuted controls a processor to perform interpreting a user's touch ata touch screen interface device, the processor being further configuredto perform: displaying instructions on the touch screen interface deviceinstructing the user to draw a certain figure on the touch screeninterface device; detecting the user's touch on the touch screeninterface device; identifying the user's touch as a plurality ofcoordinates within a predefined area designated as the user's interfacedevice; comparing touch strength pressure measurements of the pluralityof coordinates with at least one touch strength pressure measurementthreshold value stored in a memory of a computing device, wherein thetouch strength pressure measurements comprise a plurality of pressurestrength values corresponding to each of the plurality of coordinates;determining the plurality of coordinates match a predefined shapecomprising a set of predefined coordinates stored in the memory to apredefined degree of precision as determined by a computing applicationby identifying locations of each of the plurality of coordinates on thetouch screen interface device and measuring a distance of each of theplurality of coordinates to corresponding coordinates of the predefinedshape; when the plurality of coordinates match the predefined shape to apredefined degree of precision, determining an average touch strengthpressure measurement based on each of the plurality of coordinatesforming the figure, wherein the average touch strength pressuremeasurement is determined by calculating an average of the plurality ofpressure strength values; and designating the average touch strengthpressure measurement as a new touch strength pressure measurementthreshold value.
 14. The non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof claim 13, wherein the figure is at least one of a square, circle,rectangle and a straight line.
 15. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configuredto perform: discarding ones of the plurality of coordinates that are notwithin the predefined area designated as the user's interface area. 16.The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, whereinthe processor is further configured to perform: instructing the user toredraw the certain figure on the touch screen interface device if theuser's figure does not correspond with the figure stored in memory. 17.The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, whereinthe correspondence of the figure drawn by the user and the figure storedin the memory is based on a correlation of the measured coordinates ofthe figure drawn by the user to the set of predefined coordinates storedin the memory.